Man charged in sexual assault

May 12, 2006|By From news services.

A Northwest Side man was charged Thursday with sexually assaulting a woman in Uptown, fleeing in a stolen vehicle and then escaping from police custody.

Benjamin Johnson, 40, of the 5000 block of North Lincoln Avenue entered a woman's apartment in the 4100 block of North Sheridan Road early Wednesday and sexually assaulted her, police said. After forcing her to drive him to an ATM, he fled in her car, which he crashed.

Johnson was arrested soon after, but escaped through a hatch in the police wagon and led authorities on a four-hour hunt, police said.

He was arrested for a second time around 10 a.m. Wednesday after two brothers tackled and held him until police arrived.

He faces a lengthy list of charges, said Police Officer John Mirabelli: two counts of aggravated sexual assault, one count of home invasion, one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking, one count of escape from a peace officer and one count of aggravated kidnapping.

Johnson will be in Bond Court on Friday morning, Mirabelli said.

The search put the Rogers Park neighborhood on edge as residents listened to helicopters thump overhead and saw officers comb through streets and alleys.

Children at nearby Armstrong International Studies Elementary School were brought inside about an hour earlier than usual, Principal Arline Hersh said Wednesday.

Eventually, brothers Joey and Anthony Mirro saw Johnson near their father's home and captured him on Hamilton Avenue near Pratt Boulevard. Johnson still was wearing handcuffs when police took him into custody again.

Police have said that they think Johnson initially broke into the woman's house to burglarize it, and that there are no ties to other sexual assaults in the area.